September 2016 Newsletter

2016-17 RegistrationApproximately 17% of DMPS students have not registered for the 16-17 school year (as of 9/1). Registration is required and drives Low SES numbers for buildings. Registration reports with lists of individual students who are not registered are located in Infinite Campus > Reporting Services > Registration > OLR Status. (These reports may include a few students who registered on paper or had other issues with their registration).Encourage families to register to update health information, emergency contacts, and for potential eligibility for fee waivers.

IMPORTANT DATES:September 29: Registration closes for continuing familiesSeptember 30: Registrations must be processed for state certified enrollment reporting

Gallup Student Poll: September 26 - October 28Our district will be administering the Gallup Student Poll again this fall to students in grades 5-12 from September 26 to October 28. Measuring the hope of engagement of students fits directly into our collective work around Cultural Proficiency and School For Rigor. Through these efforts, we are intentionally creating conditions necessary for ALL students to engage with meaningful and challenging content under the support and guidance of adults who care for and understand their needs as a learner and individual. Administration logistics and FAQ are located here.

Why MAP? (NWEA Measures of Academic Progress) We value our students’ growth in the classroom. This year we begin a new and improved way to measure their progress by administering MAP. When taking the MAP test, the difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers the previous questions. If the student answers correctly, questions become more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier. This will allow us to more accurately pinpoint student learning. The results and information from MAP will help us measure student growth as well as proficiency.

What’s the difference between growth and proficiency? Growth answers whether a student is actually learning … are they gaining knowledge throughout the school year. Proficiency, on the other hand, looks at how well a student understands the material at their grade level. The use of MAP will help us better understand both measures, and as a result better meet the educational needs of each student.

For more information about DMPS's administration of the MAP, click here.The communications department will be releasing a short video explaining MAP for parents in early September.

Secondary Schools: Iowa Youth SurveyOur district is administering the Iowa Youth Survey this fall to grades 6, 8, and 11 students. The survey window is September 26 – November 4. As a district, we must provide parents/guardians with the option to have their student opt-out of the survey. Here’s the process:

The district sent out electronic message to parent/guardians via the IC portal on August 29 giving them the option to opt out electronically.

Electronic paper copies will also be provided to schools to make available for families who enroll after August 29.

BCO workers will reach out to ELL families explaining and providing paperwork to opt out.

The Research & Data Management team will provide each school (principal, counselor(s), & office manager) a list of students who opted out electronically on September 19.

School staff will need to combine the list of electronic opt-outs with the paper-form opt-outs for their complete opt-out list.

New Gallup Student Poll DashboardA Gallup Student Poll dashboard has been developed and is located here: GALLUP FALL 2015 Once we have fall 2016 data, those data points will be added to the dashboard.

Continuous Improvement Updates

Thanks to the Student Registration/ Enrollment/ Unenrollment Kaizen team (and what they thought was a too far in left field idea), for the first time in recent history, DMPS had a booth at the Iowa State Fair. DMPS was on hand to help people register for school, answer

questions about everything from academic programs to job opportunities, and give away some school district souvenirs. In fact, more than three dozen families made use of the district’s presence at the Fair to get registered before this Wednesday’s first day of school. The booth even helped several students get back on track to graduate, thanks to a strong presence from SUCCESS.

Be sure to read the continuous improvement August newsletter. Highlights include a 30-day update from the Academic Planning Kaizen, a classroom 5S project and a new feature called Shout Outs!

Dear Data Diva, I have two issues that need a resolution. First - There are people on my T1 team that cannot view the Tableau reports. They are NOT a Principal, VP, SIL, Released Dean, SUCCESS worker, Behavior Coach or Counselor. How can I get them added to the report? Second - I have long term subs that need access to my building. Do I enter a rights request for them? - Perplexed Principal

Dear Perplexed Principal,These are great questions! There is a form that needs to be completed to add people on your T1 team to the T1 Behavior group. This will give them the ability to view the T1 Behavior reports in Tableau. Click HERE to access the form, or access the form through Infinite Campus (Electronic Forms > Administrative Forms > Add to T1 Behavior Team.Did you go through the Substitute Center to get your long term sub? If you did, then the Center will submit the rights request with the official start and end dates. If you did not, please contact the Substitute Center to let them know the name of your long term sub. They will then put in the rights request and make sure your long term sub receives the correct pay for the time they are in your building. Long term subs are paid differently from day to day subs. Once approved make sure to add them to all sections so they can take attendance and enter grades/assignments, etc. Do not have the sub use the current teachers log in credentials; that is a serious security violation. Access to your building and the grade books will be removed once the temporary assignment ends.